Consequence-conscious design decisions
iDbuild is a building simulation tool ideal for generating design advice for a goal-oriented design processes. It is developed to utilise the power of building simulation tools to develop designs and with the intention to push performance evaluations upfront in the building design process to save time and money.
iDbuild is able to illustrate how performance-decisive parameters, and combinations of parameters, affects energy performance, thermal indoor environment, air quality and daylight conditions on room level. It is thus ideal for generating design support for consequence-conscious design decisions.
Main output from iDbuild - Example: Performance of different glazing qualities
- Var. 1: Solar coated,
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Reference: Std. energy coating,
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Var. 2: Std. energy coating w/external blinds
Update June 2010: A paper featuring iDbuild is to be published in Energy and Buildings 42 (7), July 2010, 1113-1119. The paper is called "Method and simulation program for informed decisions in the early stages of building design". Click here for more details.
Download iDbuild (BuildingCalc/LightCalc)
MATLAB version
iDbuild with matlab
Download version 2012a (0.83 MB)
NB: We can not ensure that the program works in Matlab versions older than version 7.9.0 (R2009b).
If you have an older version of matlab, use the version below. The only difference is that it is a slightly slower code.
Download version 3.2.4_old_matlab
(0.83 MB)
Click here for a guide to start the program.
UPDATED: 26.02.12
Runtime version
iDbuild without matlab
Download version 2012a_r (171 MB)
NB: The size of this file is 171 MB. The reason is that you need to have Matlab runtime libraries installed on your computer to run the runtime version of iDbuild. Please follow the installation guide - Click here.
UPDATED: 26.02.12
Weather data
Only the Danish design reference year (DRY) is provided default with the program. Weather data for other locations worldwide can be generated on request. Please contact us for more information.
Help us develop the program!
We encourage you to give us feedback on the current stage of the program, report bugs and give suggestions for future developments. Please contact us.
The program package is continuously improved and updated with new features. The newest features implemented in version 3.2 is predictive control of building system operations, and a module for integrated calculation of daylight and artificial light sources. Developments in progress and future development are: further integration with Google SkecthUp, improvements of code to reduce simulation time, multiple windows, and much more...
Room templates
We offer a number of room templates for inspiration and to get started with the program. The rooms and their systems are
designed for the Danish climate. Download and unpack the .rar file room_templates in your program folder.
Details about iDbuild
iDbuild is developed at the Technical University of Denmark as a part of a PhD-project about the development of design methods for integrated design of new low energy office buildings.
iDbuild is a part of a building simulation program package which also contains BuildingCalc for thermal analysis, LightCalc for daylight analysis and BuildingCalc/LightCalc for combined thermal and dayligt analysis. iDbuild is using the combined calculation engine for its purpose.
The philosophy in the development of iDbuild and the other components of the program package is to evaluate energy performance and indoor environment with an appropriate trade-off between speed and accuracy. We try to keep the input side and simulation time to a minimum without compromising the accuracy of the output significantly.
The program uses hourly weather data mainly because it makes little sense to evaluate the indoor environment - especially daylight - in any greater steps. However, in order to perform speedy hourly based simulations, the calculation methods are simplified. These simplification does not have significant impact on the output compared to more detailed simulation programs.
- an independent web portal on energy efficient dwellings (in Danish)
Acknowledgements:
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